Citizendia
Your Ad Here

Hạ Long Bay*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Hạ Long bay
Type Natural
Criteria vii, viii
Reference 672bis
Region† Southeast Asia
Inscription history
Inscription 1994, 2000  (18th, 24th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List.
† Region as classified by UNESCO.

Ha Long Bay (Vietnamese: Vịnh Hạ Long) is a UNESCO World Heritage site located in Quảng Ninh province, Vietnam. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex This is a list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asia, Australia and the Pacific ( Australia) A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex Vietnamese ( tiếng Việt, or less commonly Việt ngữ) formerly known under French colonization as Annamese ( see Annam) United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 There is a district in Quang Binh Province called Quang Ninh. Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially The bay features thousands of limestone karsts and isles in various sizes and shapes. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone

Contents

Etymology

Local legend says that long ago when the Vietnamese were fighting Chinese invaders, the gods sent a family of dragons to help defend the land. This family of dragons began spitting out jewels and jade. These jewels turned into the islands and islets dotting the bay, linking together to form a great wall against the invaders. The people kept their land safe and formed what later became the country of Vietnam. After that, dragons were interested in peaceful sightseeing of the Earth and decided to live here then. The place where Mother Dragon flew down was named Hạ Long, the place where the dragon children attended upon their mother was called Bái Tử Long island (Bái: attend upon, Tử: children, Long: dragon), and the place where the dragon children wriggled their tails violently was called Bạch Long Vỹ island (Bạch: white- colour of the foam made when Children Dragon wriggle, Long: dragon, Vỹ: tail).

Geographical location

Halong bay is in northeastern Vietnam, from E106°56' to E107°37' and from N20°43' to N21°09'. The bay stretches from Yên Hưng district, past Hạ Long city, Cẩm Phả town to Vân Đồn district, bordered on the south and southeast by the Gulf of Tonkin, on the north by China and on the west and southwest by Cát Bà island. For other uses see Ha Long Bay Hạ Long (also known as Hong Gai) is a capital city Cam Pha (Cẩm Phả is a town district of Quảng Ninh Province in the northeastern region of Vietnam. The Gulf of Tonkin, in Vietnamese: Vịnh Bắc Bộ or in Chinese: Beibu Wan is an arm of the South China Sea. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Cat Ba is an island of approximately 140 sqkm in Ha Long Bay, Northern Vietnam. The bay has a 120 kilometre long coastline and is approximately 1,553 square kilometres in size with 1969 islets. The area designated by UNESCO as the World Natural Heritage Site includes 434 km² with 775 islets, of which the core zone is delimited by 69 points: Đầu Gỗ island on the west, Ba Hầm lake on the south and Cống Tây island on the east. The protected area is from the Cái Dăm petrol store to Quang Hanh commune, Cẩm Phả town and the surrounding giants zone.

Climate

The bay is a sea islands in tropical wet with 2 seasons: hot and moist summer, dry and cold winter. Average temperature is from 15°C- 25°C. Temperature is a physical property of a system that underlies the common notions of hot and cold something that is hotter generally has the greater temperature Annual rainfall is between 2000mm and 2200mm. Rain is Liquid precipitation. On Earth it is the condensation of atmospheric Water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall often making it to Halong bay has the typical diurnal tide system (tide amplitude ranges from 3. Characteristics A tide is a repeated cycle of sea level changes in the following stages Over several hours the water rises or advances up a beach in the flood 5-4m). The salinity is from 31 to 34. Salinity is the Saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of Water. 5MT in dry season and lower in rainy season.

History

Soi Nhụ culture (16000- 5000 BCE)

Located in Hạ Long and Bái Tử Long, there are symbolic archaeological sites such as Mê Cung and Thiên Long. There are mounds of remains of mountain shellfishes (Cyclophorus) and spring shellfishes (Melania), some fresh water mollusk and some rudimentary labour tools. A fern is any one of a group of about 20000 Species of Plants classified in the phylum or division Pteridophyta, also known as Filicophyta The main living procedures of Soi Nhụ's habitants were catching shellfish and fish, collecting fruits and digging for bulbs and roots. Their living environment is coastal area unlike other Vietnamese cultures, for example those found in Hoà Bình, Bắc Sơn, etc.

Cái Bèo culture (5000- 3000BCE)

Located in Hạ Long and Cát Bà island, its habitants developed to the level of sea exploitation.

Hạ Long culture (2500- 1500BCE)

Early

Lately

Feudal period

History shows that Halong Bay has been the setting for local naval battles against Vietnam's coastal neighbours. On three occasions in the labyrinth of channels in Bach Dang river near the islands the Vietnamese army stopped the Chinese from landing. In 1288 General Tran Hung Dao stopped Mongol ships from sailing up the nearby Bach Dang River by placing steel-tipped wooden stakes at high tide, sinking the Mongol Dubhai Khan's fleet. Trần Hưng Đạo (1228&ndash1300 陳[[wikt 興|興]] 道) was the Vietnamese military Grand Commander of Thang Long during the Trần

During the Vietnam War, many of the channels between the islands were heavily mined by the navy of the United States, some of which pose a threat to shipping to this day. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia The United States of America —commonly referred to as the

System of isles and caves

Thien Cung grotto
Thien Cung grotto

The bay consists of a dense cluster of 1,969 limestone monolithic islands, each topped with thick jungle vegetation, which rise spectacularly from the ocean. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 An island (ˈaɪlənd or isle (/ˈaɪl/ is any piece of land that is completely surrounded by water in two dimensions above high tide and isolated from other significant Several of the islands are hollow, with enormous caves. A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter Hang Đầu Gỗ (Wooden stakes Cave) is the largest grotto in the Halong area. French tourists visited in the late 19th century, and named the cave Grotte des Merveilles. Its three large chambers contain large numerous stalactites and stalagmites (as well as 19th century French graffiti). Graffiti (singular graffito; the plural is used as a Mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched scrawled painted or marked in any manner on property There are two bigger islands, Tuan Chau and Cat Ba, that have permanent inhabitants. Cat Ba is an island of approximately 140 sqkm in Ha Long Bay, Northern Vietnam. Both of them have tourist facilities, including hotels and beaches. There are a number of wonderful beaches on the smaller islands.

Some of the islands support floating villages of fishermen, who ply the shallow waters for 200 species of fish and 450 different kinds of mollusks. Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Molluscs are animals belonging to the phylum Mollusca. There are around 250000 extant Species within the phylum with an estimated 70000 Many of the islands have acquired their names as a result of interpretation of their unusual shapes: such names include Voi Islet (elephant), Ga Choi Islet (fighting cock), and Mai Nha Islet (roof). 989 of the islands have been given names. Birds and animals including bantams, antelopes, monkeys, and iguanas also live on some of the islands. Antelope are Ruminant hoofed Mammals of the family Bovidae in the order of Even-toed ungulates. A monkey is any member of either the New World monkeys or Old World monkeys two of the three groupings of Simian Primates the third group being Iguana is a Genus of Lizard native to tropical areas of Central and South America and the Caribbean first described by Austrian

Civilization

Floating fishing village
Floating fishing village

A community of around 1600 people live on Halong bay in four fishing villages: Cửa Vạn, Ba Hang, Cống Tàu and Vông Viêng in Hùng Thắng commune, Hạ Long city. They live on floating houses and are sustained by capture fishing and marine aquaculture (cultivating marine biota).

Originally in Ha Long Bay there was only one fishing village. Now there are about ten.

Honourable name

In 1962, Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism arranged Halong Bay as National Renowned Lanscape Vestige.

The bay was World's Natural Heritage listed by UNESCO at the 18th meeting of the Committee of the World Heritages of UNESCO (in Phuket, Thailand on December 17th, 1994) for its outstanding universal aesthetic value according to the criteria explained in the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 Phuket (ภูเก็ต pʰuːkɛt formerly known as Tha-Laang or Talang, or Junk Ceylon in Western sources a distortion of the Malay Tanjung The Kingdom of Thailand (ˈtaɪlænd ราชอาณาจักรไทย, râːtɕʰa-ʔaːnaːtɕɑ̀k-tʰɑj Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) On December 2nd, 2000 at the 24th meeting of Committee of the World Heritages in Cairns, Australia, Halong bay was admitted as a World Heritage Site for its outstanding geological and geomorphological value according to the criteria of that Convention. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. [1]

Halong bay was introduced to nominate by New Open World Foundation as World's 7 Natural Wonder having result on 08/08/2008. [1]

The Kissing Rocks
The Kissing Rocks

Geology and geomorphology

History of tectonics

Scientists say that Halong bay has experienced at least 500 million years in the various geological states of orogeny, marine transgression and marine regression. Orogeny (Greek for "mountain generating" is the process of natural Mountain building and may be studied as a tectonic structural event as a geographical event and Sea-level rise is an increase in Sea level. Multiple complex factors may influence this change Marine regression is a geological process occurring when areas of submerged seafloor are exposed above the sea level During the Ordovician and Silurian periods (500-410 million years ago), Halong bay was deep sea. The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time between 488 The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician period about 443 During the Carboniferous and Permian periods (340-250 million years ago), Halong Bay was at shallow sea level. The Carboniferous is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Devonian period about 359 The Permian is a geologic period and system that extends from 299

Karst geomorphology value

As of simultaneous combination of factors like thick limestone layer, hot and moist climate and slow tectonic process in whole, Ha Long bay has had a complete karst evolutionary for 20 million years. There are many of karst topography kind in Ha Long such as karst field. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone A polje is a large flat plain in Karst territory with areas usually 5 to 400 km²

Biodiversity

Ha Long Bay is host to two ecosystems: a tropical, moist, evergreen rainforest ecosystem and a marine & coastal ecosystem. The bay is home to seven endemic species.

Endemic species

The many islands that dot the bay are home to a great many other species, including (but likely not limited to): 477 magnoliales, 12 pteris, 20 salt marsh flora and 4 amphibia, 10 reptilia, 40 aves, and 4 mammalia. Magnoliales is an order of Flowering plants Classification The Magloliales includes six families Annonaceae (custard apple family Pteris ( brake) is a genus of about 280 species of Ferns native to tropical and subtropical regions of the world A salt marsh is a type of Marsh that is a transitional intertidal between land and salty or Brackish water (e Prehistoric amphibian Amphibians (class Amphibia such as Frogs Toads Salamanders Newts Gymnophiona, Sirens and Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands

Economy

Tourism

Ha Long Bay is perhaps the most popular travel destination of the country. Foreigners and natives alike are attracted to its natural, universal appeal, not to mention the shopping and dining prospects located close by.

Cuisine

Seafood in Ha Long is diversifying. Cuttle-fish- mực, oyester- hà, cyclinae- ngán, prawn (penaeidea- tôm he, panulirus- tôm hùm, parapenaeopsis- tôm sắt. Panulirus is a Genus of Spiny lobsters in the family Palinuridae. . . ), spunculoideas- sá sùng, nerita- ốc đĩa, charonia tritonis- ốc tù và, cà sáy. Charonia tritonis, common name Triton's trumpet, is a Species of very large sea Snail, a marine Gastropod Mollusc . . are popular in many famous delicious dishes.

In literature

Nguyễn Trãi wrote about Halong bay: "This wonder is ground raises up in the middle of the high sky". Nguyễn Trãi ( Hán tự: 阮[[wikt 廌|廌]] also known under his Style name Ức Trai 抑[[wikt 齋|齋]] (1380–1442 was a Xuân Diệu utter a praise: "Here is the unfinished works of the Beings. Ngô Xuân Diệu ( February 2, 1916  &ndash December 18, 1985) more commonly known by the pen name Xuân Diệu, was a prominent . . Here is the stones which the Giant played and threw away". Nguyên Ngọc summarized: ". . . to form this first- rate wonder, nature only uses: Stone and Water. . . There is just only two materials themselves chosen from as much as materials, in order to write, to draw, to sculpture, to create everything. . . It is quite possible that here is the image of the future world". Ho Chi Minh remarks: "It is the wonder that one cannot impart to others". For the city named after him see Ho Chi Minh City. Hồ Chí Minh (name Pham Van Dong embarrassed: "Is it one scenery or many seceneries? Is it the scenery in the world or somewhere?". Phạm Văn Đồng ( March 1, 1906 – April 29, 2000) was an associate of Hồ Chí Minh. Nguyễn Tuân recognized that:"Only mountains accept to be old, but Ha Long sea and wave is young for ever".

Che Lan Vien sensed:

"Hạ Long, Bái Tử Long- Dragons were hidden, only stones still remain

On the moonlight night, stones meditate as men. Che Lan Vien was a Poet from Vietnam. He was a Kinh not Cham . . "

Lord Trịnh Cương overflowed with emotion: "Mountains are glistend by water shadow, water spill all over the sky". Trinh Cuong ruled Vietnam from 1709 to 1729 (he ruled with the title An Do Vuong)

Huy Cận was agitated: "Night breathes, stars wave Ha Long's water".

In popular culture

Gallery

Ha Long Bay View, April 26 2007

Ha Long Bay, April 26 2007

Ha Long Bay, February 2003

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay, December 22, 2005

Boats in Ha Long Bay, December 22, 2005

Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bay

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Halong Bay - UNESCO World Heritage Site. For other uses see Ha Long Bay Hạ Long (also known as Hong Gai) is a capital city UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved on 2007-07-04. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples

External links


© 2009 citizendia.org; parts available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License, from http://en.wikipedia.org
 Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic